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George Perry and the World Record Largemouth Bass

Here is the newest news, and a wonderful new book, on the world's most famous fish:

to order, go to www.whitefishpress.com

By Rob Pavey

Augusta Chronicle Outdoors Editor

Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009

New Book Traces Life of Angler and his World Record Largemouth:

The world's most famous fish has a new biography about the man who caught it here in Georgia 77 years ago.

Remembering George W. Perry , by local author and retired Augusta Chronicle Outdoors Editor Bill Baab, is a lot more than a fish story, though.

It traces the life of the man who hauled in the 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth in 1932 that was certified as the world record for a species that spawned a global, multibillion recreation industry.

"Early on, not that many people really cared about bass," Baab said. "In 1932, if you looked at the major outdoor magazines, trout fishing was No. 1. The good authors were writing about trout streams in New England or out West."

Perry's bass, landed in an oxbow lake in Georgia's Telfair County, attracted very little attention at first, with even less emphasis on the man who caught it.

"My feeling is, when Ray Scott got B.A.S.S. going in 1966 or 1967, it put a lot more focus on the species -- and the record."

Perry, who was just 20 when he caught the fish, was little more than a name in a recordbook.

Baab, who met Perry many years ago and has carefully collected details on the record bass for three decades, decided to bring the story of the man and his fish to life.

Ironically, and coincidentally, the publication this month of Baab's 158-page book -- which has more than 50 photos -- comes at a time when the Perry bass is as much in the news as it ever has been.

As of this writing, the International Game Fish Association is in the process of evaluating an application from a Japanese angler to have his 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth -- landed last July 2 in Japan's Lake Biwa -- certified as a tie for the Georgia fish's reigning world record status.

Jason Schratwieser, the IGFA's conservation director, told me it is very likely the fish will soon be certified as a tie with the Perry bass.

"It's submitted, it is well documented and we're just following up on a few minor things," he said. "It has taken us a little more time than usual because we are corresponding with an angler in another country."

The lucky angler, Manabu Kurita, should be proud of his accomplishment, said Baab, who covers the new development in his book.

"The Japanese bass will make its mark in Japan and some of the Asian countries," he said. "But I don't think it will make that much difference here in the United States."

Perry died in a plane crash in Alabama in 1974, but his record lives on today, even though the fish was eaten the same day it was caught.

The book can be ordered online from www.whitefishpress.com or purchased locally during an author's book signing Dec. 12, from 1-3 p.m. at the Book Tavern, located at 1026 Broad St.

Here are some of my past columns and photos on the famous fish:

After 74 years: at last, we have a photo!

By Rob Pavey, Outdoors Editor

The Augusta Chronicle, Sunday, May 28, 2006

 For 74 years, the persistent ghost of George W. Perry's world record largemouth bass has haunted its detractors.

The problem, many have said, is that it's hard to swallow the story of the 22-pound, 4-ounce fish without being able to see it.

Ever since the Georgia bass was landed on June 2, 1932, and later certified by Field & Stream magazine as the reigning world record, no photograph had been found to document the feat.

Now a photo, salvaged from the personal effects of a distant Perry relative, has been found - taunting naysayers who believe the fish wasn't as big as it was said to be, or perhaps wasn't a largemouth bass at all.

"There is no doubt in my mind it's the world-record bass," said Bill Baab, who retired from The Augusta Chronicle in 2000 after 35 years as its outdoors editor - and who helped authenticate the mysterious snapshot.

Baab knows plenty about Perry and his bass.

In a recent book, Forbes senior writer Monte Burke refers to Baab as "the world's leading authority on the story of George Perry's fish, and the story's most tenacious guardian."

The photo, likely taken near the post office and general store in Helena, Ga., was found by Waycross, Ga., resident Jerry Johnson while going through his late aunt's belongings.

"The aunt was a relative of Perry's," Baab said.

Johnson sent the photo to a Florida magazine editor, who in turn sent it to the International Game Fish Association, which ran the photo in its magazine, International Angler, last fall.

That's when Lee Howard, an IFGA member and fishing outfitter in Hiawassee, Ga., noticed the photo and launched a more detailed investigation.

"Once Lee got involved, he was able to dig up the history," Baab said, noting that Howard used genealogical records to connect the Johnson and Perry families and made several trips to Telfair County, where the fish was caught.

"He even showed the picture around in nursing homes to see if they recognized the people in it," he said.

The photo shows a man with a cigarette in his mouth holding the giant fish as a child poses in the foreground.

Their identities, Baab said, remain a mystery, although there is a possibility that the "smoking man" could be Jack Page, the older companion Perry often named as his fishing partner that day on Montgomery Lake.

Being caught in a small town in the Depression era, a big fish likely caused quite a stir that day, Baab said, theorizing that more than one photo could have been taken.

"This one was taken and probably forgotten," he said. "People take pictures and put them in a family album and they're put on a shelf somewhere and nobody thinks about it anymore."

Perry, a 20-year-old farmer, went fishing that day only because it was too wet to work in the fields.

In a 1969 interview with Sports Afield, Perry recalled the famous strike: "All at once the water splashed everywhere. I do remember striking, then raring back and trying to reel, but nothing budged," he said. "I thought for sure I'd lost the fish, that he'd dived and hung me up."

When they took the fish into town, someone mentioned Field & Stream's big fish contest, which spurred Perry to have the fish weighed and measured.

He not only won the contest, and $75 in sporting equipment but also reeled in a place in history.

Although Perry's record still stands, an even larger bass was caught in April in California, but the angler opted not to submit the fish as a new record because it was foul-hooked, contrary to state law.

That fish, caught by Mac Weakley, weighed 25 pounds, 1 ounce and was released.

The Perry fish photo is a logical conclusion to the discovery several years ago of correspondence between Perry and the Creek Chub Bait Co. of Garrett, Ind., who manufactured the Fintail Shiner lure used to land the big bass.

One letter in particular, dated June 3, 1935, hinted that there might have been photos taken after all:

"You will remember that in 1932 I landed the present worlds (sic) record Large Mouth Black Bass that weighed 221/4 pounds," Perry wrote to Creek Chub. "You will also remember me sending you a photo of the 221/4-pound bass.

"The photo was, however, not a real good photo," Perry continued. "I now have a real good picture of myself and the Big Bass together, so if you would like to have a copy, I will be pleased to let you use it in your advertising."

All Perry asked for in return was a handful of Creek Chub lures. In a response dated later that month, Creek Chub accepted Perry's offer.

"We would like to have a picture of the big bass you mention for our files and will be glad to reimburse you for it," the company wrote. However, the company's records contain no record of having used or published such a photo.

Perry spent his adult years in Brunswick, Ga., where he became a self-taught pilot and businessman. He died in 1974, at the age of 61, when the plane he was flying crashed into a hillside near Birmingham, Ala.

With him died the remaining details of his famous catch.

World Record Largemouth Bass

Angler: George W. Perry
Caught: June 2, 1932
Weight: 22 pounds, 4 ounces
Location: Telfair County, Ga.
Lure: Creek Chub Fintail Shiner
Disposition: Cleaned and eaten

Here is a larger copy of this important photo.

(click on photo to see full size version)

Below are some of my past columns/photos on this topic:

George Perry’s World Record Bass:  the Truth about "The Lure"

By Robbie Pavey

(published in National Fishing Lure Magazine, 2006)

     For generations of anglers and lure collectors, the Creek Chub Wigglefish has been widely accepted as the lure that caught the world record largemouth bass on June 2, 1932.

After more than seven decades, however, it turns out not to be true, and the irrefutable proof comes from a long-lost tape recording of an interview with the man who caught it.

  This revelation would seem at first to be lure blasphemy, especially among the numerous aficionados of the handsome, jointed Wigglefish, with its unusual metal tail.

The oft-told story holds that the young angler, George W. Perry, hurled his only lure – a perch scale Wigglefish - into the muddy oxbow known as Montgomery Lake in Georgia’s Telfair County that June morning, and landed a place in history.

His fish, as fat as a fully inflated basketball, weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces - eclipsing the previous world record by more than two pounds. The record still stands today, despite the ongoing efforts of 60 million bass fishermen determined to topple it.

Perry, a poor farmer, was just 20 years old at the time and went fishing that day only because the fields were too wet to plow.  He attributed his feat simply to good luck.

"All at once the water splashed everywhere,” Perry recalled in a 1969 interview with Sports Afield magazine. “I do remember striking, then raring back and trying to reel, but nothing budged," he said. "I thought for sure I'd lost the fish, that he'd dived and hung me up."

The mammoth bass must have been quite a sight as it sloshed toward the homemade boat Perry and his companion, Jack Page, paddled among the cypress and tupelo trees that dotted the dark, tannin-stained water.

  Later that day, Perry and Page took their catch to the general store in nearby <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /> Helena , Ga. , where the proprietor - a notary public - weighed and certified its dimensions and weight.

A customer mentioned a Field & Stream magazine bass contest, and encouraged Perry to enter his fish, which also was weighed and measured on certified scales at the town's post office.

  Needless to say, Perry's bass easily won the contest - and its $75 in prizes that included a rod and reel, and a new shotgun. Perry's modesty prevented him from the incessant bragging that could have accompanied such a bass. Instead, he did what most Depression-era anglers did with their catch: he simply took it home, and he ate it!

I had no idea how big the fish was, but that didn't matter," Perry said. "What had me worried was losing the lure. It was the only one we had between us."

Ahhhh. The lure.

  Although the Wigglefish was long held to be the bait used by Perry – and Creek Chub even reissued the lure in 1978-79, and again in 1992, and promoted it as the “world record bass catcher” – it turns out that Perry was fishing with a different Creek Chub bait that morning.

The correct lure: a Fintail Shiner in natural scale, according to Perry himself.

  The proof emerged last April when a young writer from Forbes magazine – Monte Burke – visited Augusta, Ga., to promote his excellent new book, entitled “Sowbelly: the Obsessive Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass.”

  During his visit, he mentioned he had – while researching his book – discovered and acquired a copy of a taped interview with Perry himself, conducted Oct. 12, 1973, by an outdoor writer named Terry Drace, working at that time for Bass Anglers Sportsman Society.

In that tape, Perry described – in his own words – the day he caught the famous fish, and which lure he used.

“It was not long after noon, maybe 1 o’clock,” he said in the crackly recording made at Perry’s aviation garage in Brunswick , Ga. “I had a True Temper rod and a Pflueger reel. The lure was a Creek Chub Fintail Shiner.”

  “Isn’t that like a River Runt?” Drace asks, his voice audible on the tape.

  “Yeah,” Perry replies. “It’s an artificial bait. A fintail shiner. It had fins on it. It had a flexible, artificial tail. At the time I think it was a new lure, it had just come out. It was a natural kind of color and the actual tail was some sort of flexible cloth or plastic. It wasn’t a broke-back. The name truly describes is – it was a fintail shiner.”

  Perry goes on to discuss catching the fish and eventually taking it home and eating it. “I never thought much about what happened,” he said. “I knew I had a big fish – and I knew we needed some meat at the house.”

  Drace published a story generated by his interview with Perry, but in the story, he repeated what other articles had mistakenly said before: that it was a Wigglefish, not the Fintail Shiner, that Perry cast into Montgomery Lake that day.

  Bill Baab, who retired after 35 years as outdoors editor at the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle and has authored dozens of articles on Perry and his bass, contacted Drace to ask about the discrepancy.

  Drace responded in a letter to Baab last April that he may have simply succumbed to the misinformation already published that led him to believe Perry used a Wigglefish. In retrospect, Drace acknowledged, perhaps he could have analyzed the tape more carefully and challenged Creek Chub’s assertion that the Wigglefish was the correct lure, given Perry’s statements to the contrary.

 

 

World Record Largemouth Bass: Caught by George Perry

 

By Rob Pavey

Outdoors Editor, The Augusta Chronicle

May 26, 2001

Some records are meant to be broken. Others seem to endure forever. The mystery that has surrounded the 22-pound, 4-ounce world record largemouth bass caught by George Perry in Georgia's Montgomery Lake on June 2, 1932, has persisted more than seven decades - and so has the record itself. Here is the true story of the 20-year-old farmer's famous catch. 

The Famous Cast....

The most coveted record in fishing was was set almost seven decades ago - right here in Georgia. Despite the best efforts of 60 million anglers nationwide, it has weathered the challenges of time.

George Perry was just 19 years old that morning - June 2, 1932 - when he cast his only lure into a blackwater lake in remote Telfair County - and landed a place in history.

Fatter than a fully inflated basketball - and 32 1/2 inches long - his 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass eclipsed the previous world record by more than two pounds.

Perry, a poor farmer, went fishing that day only because the fields were too wet to plow. His fishing spot, Montgomery Lake, was little more than a flooded oxbow off the nearby Ocmulgee River .

In a 1969 interview with Sports Afield magazine, Perry recalled the famous strike: "All at once the water splashed everywhere. I do remember striking, then raring back and trying to reel, but nothing budged," he said. "I thought for sure I'd lost the fish, that he'd dived and hung me up."

The mammoth bass must have been quite a sight as it sloshed toward the homemade boat Perry and his companion paddled among the cypress and tupelo trees that dotted the dark, tannin-stained water.

"I had no idea how big the fish was, but that didn't matter," Perry said. "What had me worried was losing the lure. It was the only one we had between us."

The lure, a natural scale Fintail Shiner, manufactured by the Creek Chub Bait Co., survived the battle, and the squirming bass was hoisted aboard.

Later that day, Perry and his companion, Jack Page, took their catch to the general store in nearby Helena , where the proprietor - a notary public - weighed and certified its dimensions and weight.

A customer mentioned a Field & Stream magazine bass contest, and encouraged Perry to enter his fish, which also was weighed and measured on certified scales at the town's post office.

Needless to say, the George Perry bass easily won the contest - and its $75 in prizes that included a rod and reel, and a new shotgun.

Perry's modesty prevented him from the incessant bragging that could have accompanied a bass half the size of the one he caught that day. In fact, he never even bothered to photograph the fish that became the world record largemouth bass.

Instead, he did what most Depression-era anglers did with their catch: he took it home and ate it.

Perry later moved to Brunswick , Ga. , where he became a self-taught pilot and businessman. He died in 1974, at the age of 61, when the plane he was flying crashed into a hillside near the Birmingham , Ala., airport.

With him died many of the details we'd like to know today about the famous catch, which is memorialized today in fishing displays and museums from Texas to Tokyo .

Today, sportfishing occupies the throne of American recreation, and has evolved into a $40 billion-a-year business.

Outdoor writers have speculated for seven decades over when - and where - the next world record bass will emerge.

In 1991, a 22-pound bass from Castaic Lake , Calif., almost toppled Perry's record. But it made only second place. Perry's record stands.

 Biologists everywhere insist there will be a new record, and perhaps the winning fish is out there now, just waiting. A new world-record bass would be worth millions to anyone lucky enough to catch it.

But so far, no one has.

Today, Montgomery Lake remains available to public fishing as part of the 8,500-acre Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area. It is partly filled with mud now, and offers few opportunities for trophy bass.

Despite intense trophy management programs in states such as Florida and California, John Biagi, Georgia's assistant fisheries chief, is optimistic the new record still could appear here in Georgia.

"If we can set this record, we certainly have the potential to break it," he said. "We have the habitat, the long growing season, the genetics, everything we need, so why not?"

In the meantime, visitors traveling the lonely stretch of Georgia Highway 117 between Jacksonville and Lumber City still pull onto the dusty shoulder to see the historical marker erected there in 1984.  

It is interesting to note that the marker attributes Perry's catch to a different lure - the Creek Chub Wigglefish. Although the Wigglefish, or Wiggle Fish, was long thought to have been the lure used by Perry that day, a long-lost tape recorded interview made with Perry back in 1973 proves categorically that it was, indeed, a fintail shiner in natural scale finish - and not the Wigglefish claimed by even the marketing folks at Creek Chub Bait Company, who perhaps were eager to say one of their best selling baits caught the world record (the Wigglefish was made off and on into the 1970s while the Fintail Shiner vanished in the 1930s).

The bronze marker recounts Perry's feat, to make sure it is not forgotten.

Regardless of who catches the next world record bass, anglers everywhere will always cherish the memory of the barefoot farm boy in a leaky, wooden boat who made the cast of a lifetime one morning long ago.  

 

 

In 1984, this historical marker was erected on a lonely stretch of Georgia Highway 117 in Telfair County to alert passers-by to the area's international significance. Research for the wording was done by Bill Baab, former outdoors editor of The Augusta Chronicle. (Rob Pavey Photo)

 

 

Another Mystery: Were There Photos?

May 2003

There is a new mystery brewing over the world's most famous fish, caught 73 years ago this June 2 by George Perry.

    In the decades since, no one has published a photo of the fish, and Perry received nothing more than $75 in merchandise from Field & Stream magazine - and a place in history.

  But documents that surfaced in 2004 from the Creek Chub Bait Company, which corresponded with Perry after learning one of their lures was used to catch the fish, indicate the record fish might indeed have been photographed.

  "These documents certainly imply that he photographed the fish," said Ken Duke, a former Georgia Game & Fish magazine editor  who now works as senior publicist for BASS.

  Duke, a self-professed Perry bass aficionado, bought the envelope of letters and other material off eBay for $380. The seller had acquired a quantity of old paperwork from one of the heirs to Creek Chub Bait Co.

  Within those letters and photos was correspondence between Perry and the company, along with a signed, original photograph of a 13-pound, 14-ounce bass Perry caught in 1934 and entered in a Field & Stream contest.

  One letter in particular, dated June 3, 1935 , caught Duke's eye:

  "You will remember that in 1932 I landed the present worlds record Large Mouth Black Bass that weighed 22 1/4 pounds," Perry wrote to Creek Chub. "You will also remember me sending you a photo of the 22 1/4 -pound bass.

  "The photo was, however, not a real good photo," Perry continued. "I now have a real good picture of myself and the Big Bass together, so if you would like to have a copy, I will be pleased to let you use it in your advertising."

  All Perry asked for in return was a handful of Creek Chub lures to fish with. In a response dated later that month, Creek Chub accepted Perry's offer.

  "We would like to have a picture of the big bass you mention for our filed and will be glad to reimburse you for it," the company wrote.

  To date, no such picture has ever been found, although - with Perry's world record remaining intact today - it would be an important bit of angling history if someone could locate it.

  Bill Baab, who retired in 2000 after 35 years as a sports writer and outdoors editor for The Augusta Chronicle, interviewed Perry in 1959 and has authored numerous articles on the Perry bass.

But he never heard Perry mention any photos of the record fish.

  "I'd also talked with his widow, two daughters and a son - and none were aware of a photo of the big fish," Baab said.

Perry spent his adult years in Brunswick , Ga. , where he became a self-taught pilot and businessman. He died in 1974, at the age of 61, when the plane he was flying crashed into a hillside near Birmingham , Ala.

  With him, perhaps, died the details we'd like to know about his famous fish.

 

Perry later moved to Brunswick , Ga. , where he became a self-taught pilot and businessman. He died in 1974, at the age of 61, when the plane he was flying crashed into a hillside near the Birmingham , Ala. , airport. With him died many of the details we'd like to know today about the famous catch, which is memorialized today in fishing displays and museums from Texas to Tokyo . (Photo courtesty of Bill Baab)

The Next World Record: Anybody's Guess....

By Rob Pavey, Outdoors Editor

April 9, 2003

 

The decades have not been kind to Montgomery Lake, the legendary site in Georgia where George Perry landed the world record largemouth bass. But visitors still ask Ed Van Otteren to take them there. And he always does, knowing they won't stay long.

``People are always surprised to see there's not much to it,'' said Van Otteren, who manages the state-owned Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area that surrounds the blackwater slough. ``Usually, they just take a couple of pictures. Then they leave.''

  But year after year, like pilgrims to a shrine, wandering anglers are drawn from a lonely stretch of Georgia Highway 117 into a dense swamp where history was made one summer morning long ago.

  The day was June 2, 1932 . A farmer named George Perry cast a lure into the Telfair County lake and landed a place in history: a 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass that is still the official world record.

  Today, the shallow sliver of swamp is nothing like the lake Perry fished in 1932.

  ``When it's really low, you can just about walk across it,'' Van Otteren said.

  Flanked by the dark Ocmulgee River and studded with the angular, nodding trunks of tupelo trees, today's Montgomery Lake is filled with silt -- a haven for alligators and rooting wild boar -- but no bass.

  Though the lake has lost its luster, Perry's feat 67 years ago is still the envy of the fishing community across the nation -- and the world.

  Measuring 32 1/2 inches long and 28 1/2 inches in girth, the monster of monsters was unbelievable -- even then. Today, such a fish would be worth millions to anyone fortunate enough to land it by legal means.

  Mr. Perry's fish was taken to a general store a few miles away in Helena , where its weight was affirmed through certified scales at the nearby post office, according to news accounts of the day.

  At the urging of friends, the lucky angler entered the fish in Field & Stream magazine's Big Fish Contest, which he won. In addition to winning $75 in prizes, Mr. Perry became the world record holder. And Georgia earned an honorable distinction that is memorialized in museums and exhibits from Texas to Tokyo .

  Seventy-three years later, bass fishing has ascended to become one of the nation's primary pastimes, hooking 60 million Americans, according to the 600,000-member Bass Anglers Sportsman Society.

  Fishermen and women, the organization claims, even outnumber the nation's golfers (24 million) and tennis players (1.7 million). The resulting $40 billion industry grows stronger each year.

  And so do the desires from other states that want Mr. Perry's record broken by a bigger largemouth from their waters.

  In Texas , for example, fisheries biologists have been working diligently since the mid-1970s to breed a master race of largemouths in efforts to topple Georgia 's enduring record.

  ``We like things big here in Texas ,'' said Allen Forshage, director of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens , Texas . ``Ultimately, our goal is to have the new world record right here.''

  But so far, it hasn't worked.

  In the interim, the fisheries center has a nice display devoted to Mr. Perry, complete with a life-size replica of the famous Georgia fish.

  ``We also have the biggest bass from Texas right next to it, but (Mr. Perry's fish) dwarfs it,'' Mr. Forshage said.

  If Mr. Perry's record is eclipsed, the state from which a new record is caught will certainly benefit from the recognition.

With growing interest in trophy management and catch-and-release programs, the likelihood of a new record increases each year, said Mr. Schultz, a veteran of the B.A.S.S. pro tournament circuit, the PGA of fishing.

  `` California , for example, has received tremendous acclaim and produced some incredible specimens,'' he said. ``A guy came within a half-pound of the record a few years ago. There could be a new record. In fact, it's probably swimming around somewhere right now.''

  Although a world-record catch for a tournament professional would be comparable to winning the lottery, average anglers could cash in as well.

  Georgia's fisheries professaionals would love to see a new record hoisted from Peach State waters. But as the years tick by since Perry's 1932 catch, the record remains unbroken - for now.

Georgia , meanwhile, is content to enjoy its acclaim, despite the not-so-subtle efforts in other states to make sure the record falls.

  ``I know they like things big in Texas . But here in Georgia, we feel like the environment (Perry's) fish was in had a lot to do with its size,'' said Beth Brown, communications director for Georgia's Department of Natural Resources.

  "So we're not actively trying to produce larger bass. We feel like the right mixture's already in the Georgia population,'' she said. ``Our record has stood for decades now. It was the great catch.''

  Meanwhile, back in Telfair County , visitors still pull their cars onto the sandy shoulder of Highway 117 to read the bronze marker placed in 1984 by the Georgia Historical Society honoring Mr. Perry's enduring feat.

  Besides being a world record, Perry's catch is also `` Georgia 's Official State Fish,'' according to the inscription.

  Residents of the middle Georgia county 130 miles south of Augusta are proud of their community's place in history.

 

 

 

 

 

  Here is the complete TEXT of the George Perry Bass historical marker:

World Record Bass Marker Near Jacksonville , Ga.

World Record Bass State Historical Marker
Located on Ga. 117 four miles east of Jacksonville , Ga.

Approximately two miles from this spot, on June 2, 1932 , George W. Perry, a
19-year old farm boy, caught what was to become America 's most famous fish.The twenty-two pound four ounce largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)exceeded the existing record by more than two pounds has retained the world record for more than fifty years. Perry and his friend, J.E. Page, were
fishing in Montgomery Lake , a slough off the Ocmulgee River , not for
trophies but to bring food to the table during those days of the great
depression. The fish was caught on a Creek Chub Perch Scale Wigglefish,
Perry's only lure, and was 32 1/2 inches in length and 28 1/2 inches in
girth. The weight and measurements were taken, recorded and notarized in
Helena , Georgia and Perry's only reward was seventy-five dollars in
merchandise as first prize in Field and Stream Magazine's fishing contest.
The longstanding record is one of the reasons that the largemouth bass was
made Georgia 's Official State Fish. Montgomery Lake is today part of the
Department of natural Resources' Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area.

134-4 GEORGIA HISTORIC MARKER 1984

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